Engineering Consent For An Attack On SyriaSyrian “Civilian Massacre” Story Falls Apart

By Alex Newman

July 14, 2012
"Information
Clearing House" --
Yet
another alleged "massacre" of "civilians" by the Syrian
regime was in the establishment-press headlines this week,
supposedly a brutal killing spree by dictator Bashar al-Assad’s
forces in the village of Tremseh that left up to 250 people
dead. As has become typical, Western governments and mainstream
media outlets — the New York Times, the BBC, and others
included — parroted anonymous “opposition activists” for the
claims. But within days, after foreign powers seeking regime
change had their chance to beat the war drums even louder, the
carefully constructed tale was already falling apart.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one of the top
defenders of the dangerous “rebel” coalition operating in Syria
at American taxpayer expense, immediately
claimed there was "indisputable evidence that the regime
deliberately murdered innocent civilians" — “over 200 men, women
and children,” in fact. She did not present or cite any of the
alleged evidence, but vowed to punish those responsible amid
more calls for immediate regime change. Other Western leaders
and financiers of the violence in Syria issued similar
condemnations and more threats.

Despite hysterical reporting and wild statements by political
leaders, however, even “opposition activists” were conceding
early on that most of the dead were actually armed combatants
who had staged attacks on the regime’s military forces. More
recent reports, even those based on anonymous “opposition
activists,” also suggest that closer to 100 people had died.
Almost all of the dead were military-aged men, too — a far cry
from Clinton’s “over 200 men, women and children.”

"At this stage, though we do not yet have the final count, the
number of civilians killed by shelling is not more than seven,"
an anti-Assad “activist” known as “Jaafar” with the Sham News
Network (SNN)
told the AFP press agency. "The rest were members of the
[Western-backed] Free Syrian Army.” How could Clinton and the
establishment press have messed up the story so badly,
again?

One problem, according to analysts, is that the Free Syrian Army
(FSA) is consistently discussed using deceptive terminology.
“From the U.S. State Department and outward through its
tentacles across the corporate media, the so-called ‘Free Syrian
Army’ is continuously referred to interchangeably as ‘civilians’
and ‘activists,’”
noted analyst Tony Cartalucci, who has followed the conflict
closely. “In reality they are heavily armed, foreign-backed, and
include amongst their ranks a sizable proportion of foreign
fighters — betraying the very name Free ‘Syrian’ Army.”

Of course, there was indeed killing going on in the area, and
many young men — possibly up to 100 — did indeed die. Both sides
acknowledged that. And Assad’s tyrannical regime did deploy
heavy weapons including tanks and helicopters as both sides
continued to violate the international cease-fire agreement.
What exactly happened, however, remains unclear. Members of the
UN mission in Syria are supposed to be investigating and
reporting their findings as soon as possible.

“The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says it remains far from clear
what took place at Tremseh,”
acknowledged the state-run British news service, days after
touting opposition claims along with most of the establishment
press and not long after it was caught using an old photo from
Iraq to illustrate a previous “civilian massacre” in Syria.
After parroting anonymous claims about the latest alleged
“civilian massacre” in Tremseh conducted by the regime, other
news outlets and “opposition activists” reluctantly followed
suit and admitted that the facts did not fit the original
allegations.

Clinton and other Western advocates of “regime change,” however,
have not yet corrected themselves. And as the war-mongers
continue to demand international military intervention to oust
the Syrian despot, it is unlikely that they will.

The Assad dictatorship claims it was battling “armed terrorist”
groups backed by foreign powers at the request of innocent local
villagers in the area who were being terrorized and slaughtered
by the establishment-backed “opposition” fighters. It also
alleged in press reports that the “terrorists” had been
summarily executing people including women and children. No
independent confirmation has been made of the claims.

“Syria has been exposed to more than 16 months of terrorist
attacks and booby-trapped suicide attacks by foreign-backed
armed terrorist groups, which in part coordinate their attacks
with some media outlets, especially once a UN session about
Syria is to be or convened,”
reported the dictatorship-run Syrian Arab News Agency
(SANA), echoing concerns of analysts around the world after top
mainstream news outlets like CNN and Al Jazeera were
caught broadcasting staged propaganda by the rebels. The
report also acknowledged that the regime’s forces had indeed
killed and captured “scores” of “terrorists.”

''Had the Army or security personnel existed in the village, the
terrorists wouldn't have been able to overrun the village and
perpetrate their massacres,'' claimed villager Abo Arif
al-Khalid, a supposed “witness” to the alleged rebel atrocities,
in an interview with the state-run media. The man, apparently
crying in the interview, also claimed that the Western-backed
opposition fighters had killed women and children including his
cousin.

At least three Syrian soldiers died in the conflict, according
to the regime.

On the other hand, anonymous “democracy activists” cited in
early establishment-press reports originally claimed, like
Clinton, that the Syrian military had indiscriminately
slaughtered innocent villagers with tanks and helicopters.
However, when no evidence was offered to substantiate those
claims — let alone images of dead women and children — the
narrative slowly changed. The few videos that did emerge showed
at most 17 dead or bloody military-aged men alleged to have been
victims of the fighting.

In a July 12 report, the New York Times implicitly —
and deceptively —
suggested that there was actual evidence. “Activists in Hama
posted a video on YouTube accusing the government of ‘ethnic
cleansing in Hama,’ and said the killings in Tremseh were
‘unlike any massacre that has previously occurred in Syria,’”
the paper reported. Instead of a video showing any “ethnic
cleansing” or “massacre,” however, the clip cited by the Times
actually just shows a man with a bandage on his head talking in
Arabic making assorted accusations. You can watch it
here.

Online commentators were not buying it, though. “This revolution
of the Syrian free army is nothing but a paid thugs running
around to create terrorism,” noted the top comment on the
YouTube video as of July 14. “When they get killed or injured
your stupid media starts to cry ‘oh my god Bashar is evil.’”

The Times also cited a statement by the anti-Assad
Muslim Brotherhood. “The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria do not
consider Bashar the Beast the only one responsible for this
horrific massacre,” the radical Islamic socialist group claimed.
“Responsibility for this and for previous massacres also lies
with Annan, with the Russians and the Iranians, and all those
states who claim they are protecting peace and stability yet
stay silent and skulk away from taking any responsibility.”
Apparently the extremist group wants the world to intervene
militarily on its side.

Some analysts have tried to
claim that the Assad dictatorship has not been responsible
for any massacres at all, arguing that it would be
counterproductive to his campaign to retain power. That is
almost certainly not the case, as thousands have already died on
both sides, with Assad's forces likely involved in many of the
deaths. But the timing of the latest alleged massacre was indeed
suspicious — like most reports of Assad atrocities, it coincided
perfectly with high-level international negotiations on Syria.

When asked about why the alleged mass abuses perpetrated by
Assad against his opponents often seem to be timed just ahead of
major UN Security Council meetings, a spokesman for the
Bilderberg-linked “Syrian National Council” — which includes
the radical Muslim Brotherhood and is considered by the
establishment to be the main “representative” of Syria’s
opposition — dodged the question. “Assad doesn't really care
about the international community,” the SNC spokesman
finally said in what was probably the only relevant comment
to the query.

Of course, none of the information presented here is meant to
defend the barbarian tyrant ruling over Syria. The point is that
there is much more going on than Western governments and the
mainstream press would like citizens to realize — and people are
dying based on gross deceptions perpetrated by the highest
levels of the establishment. More will undoubtedly die in the
coming months.

Instead of presenting the truth, powerful establishment forces
are using
lies and deception, as well as taxpayer money, in an effort
to impose a new regime on the Syrian people by force of arms if
necessary. And unfortunately for the populations of Syria and
maybe Iran next, more than a few analysts worry that the new
rulers — if and when the bloodshed ever stops — might be even
worse than the current situation. Only time will tell.

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